The Other Synaesthesia
The Other Synaesthesia by Susan Bernstein, published by State University of New York Press in 2023, is a scholarly exploration of synaesthesia as it relates to philosophy and literature. This 146-page work delves into the interplay of the senses and the arts, examining perspectives from notable figures such as Aristotle, Charles Baudelaire, and Jean-Luc Nancy. Bernstein argues that synaesthesia is often perceived as a means of achieving transcendence and unity, yet she presents an alternative view that emphasizes differences and the concept of “interbelonging” among the senses and arts.
Readers will find a critical investigation into how synaesthesia has been interpreted across various philosophical and literary contexts. The book discusses themes such as community in Nancy’s work, the correspondence between Franz Liszt and George Sand, and Baudelaire’s poetic approach. Bernstein also addresses Richard Wagner’s theory of the Gesamtkunstwerk and critiques of truth by Heidegger, providing a comprehensive look at the aesthetics of synaesthesia beyond its neurological foundations. This edition is presented in English and offers a nuanced perspective on literary criticism, semiotics, and aesthetics.
Official synopsis Publisher
Reconsiders the figure of synaesthesia, understood as the combination of the senses and of the arts, in philosophy and literature.
This book investigates synaesthesia in philosophy and literature, from Aristotle to Charles Baudelaire to Jean-Luc Nancy and beyond. Its central claim is that while synaesthesia is generally read as a figure of transcendence and unity, there is another effect of synaesthesia, one that articulates differences and displaces essence. This other synaesthesia opens up within or alongside the more familiar sense of synaesthesia as synthesis, pointing to an alternative understanding of the senses and of the arts as “interbelonging” in a kind of rhythmic relation rather than parts of a totalizing aesthetic whole. In so doing, The Other Synaesthesia contests the suggestion that neurological synaesthesia is the foundation for the aesthetics of synaesthesia. Topics include Nancy’s conception of community; the correspondence between Franz Liszt and George Sand; Baudelaire’s poetics; Richard Wagner’s theory of the Gesamtkunstwerk, or total work of art; decadence and symbolism; and Heidegger’s critique of the correspondence theory of truth.
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